Rolling Thunder Cyclocross Race November 3rd

Thursday, March 13, 2008

In surpirse stage, Cadel Evans takes the victory a top Mount Ventoux. Evans benefited from Robert Gesink. Yes, Robert Gesink! The dude who climbed with Levi in the Tour of California. The young climber sprung from a select group of Frank Schleck, Nocentini, Yaroslav Popovych, and Cadel Evans. Evans was the only one who could follow. Since Popovych was going for the overall Evans wouldn't work with Gesink. The skinny Rabobank rider went 100% for the last 3km. He put up a good fight in the sprint but Cadel nipped him at the line. Gesink slipped into the leaders jersey by 30 seconds over a ageless Davide Rebellion, who never gave up the fight. Noncentini from AG2R is 3rd on GC and Popovych hangs on for fourth. Overnight leader Chavanel fell to 10th after blowing 7k from the line. Slipstream's Trent Lowe is the highest placed rider for them at 21st.

Props to Jengs Voigt for going on another one his crazy all day breakaways. Look for Cunego or Schleck to try and take one of the mountain stages before the race is over. They both seem to be riding well and are out of the overall.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

On Friday, I was reading an article in Velonews written by Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. The article was about his offseason training. He desribes how every year he gets these high aspirations for his season. It's almost like you forget the pain that racing brings. It reminded me of my offseason, riding chairlifts and dreaming of cycling glory.

I've started riding again, and all winter I thought about winning races and achieving all these goals. The truth is that bicycle racing is hard and it takes a lot of time in the saddle to be fast. This past weekend I was reminded of the time and pain that it takes to be fast.

While I was sitting in the group on Saturday I started to think about pain and cycling. It's almost a right of passage. Bicycle racers go through a lot of pain. I think half the battle of becoming a good cyclist is getting used to the pain. I was talking to a couple new riders on Saturday and they asked what kinf of ride this was going to be like. Well......what ride is it going to be like? I remember asking and wondering those same questions. The answer is......the ride is scheduled to be long and slow and will probably head this way and then that way. However, the real answer is on the first climb 4 miles in someone will launch, then we will string out single file for the next 7 miles going 25mph, next into swirling winds we'll hit a sprint after averaging 25mph for last 10 miles. Your legs will be burning and your lungs will scream for air. There is no simple answer to "what type of ride is this." I don't think there's a group ride in the world that doesn't have it's hammer down parts. Going through these hard parts and suffering together in the group is a right of passage into the bicycle racing world. It's definetly not for everyone, but once you've made it through one ride with "hard" parts you'll be hooked. It's these "hard" parts that make for local legends and talk around the coffee shop.

Thanks for the rides this weekend ya'll. I had a great time getting back into it.